Written by Nick @ Technuovo.com – 24th February 2023

These are the new S1000W wireless bookshelf speakers from Edifier, Let’s take a look. 

What a lump these are, in a good way of course. These are traditional, big, heavy bookshelf speakers. Wood construction, assume MDF, with a light walnut-like veneer to the sides, satin black to the rest of it, plus each speaker sits on four chrome legs. Size wise each speaker comes in at 198 x 345 x 295 mm and weighs 8 kilos. Each speaker has a removal mesh grille if you wanted to see the driver and tweeter. The speakers are also slightly angled up, which they’re saying improves acoustics and will certainly help if you mount these on a desk with your head at a higher level. Overall, a very premium and well-built pair of speakers, albeit quite classic in appearance which may or may not be for everyone. 

Spec-wise, each speaker has a 5.5-inch mid-range driver, a 1-inch tweeter, plus a Bass port to the rear. The total output between the two is 120 watts. They offer WiFi and Bluetooth connections, so you can connect them to your own home network and access them through apps such as Apple Airplay, Alexa, Tidal, and Spotify. They are Hi-Res certified, which means they support audio with a sample rate of up to 24bit/192kHz if you’ve got a device that will provide that. Other than the wireless connections, wired inputs include 2No. line in or RCA, optical in, and coax in. There is also volume and input selection, plus treble and bass control on the right speaker. 

To connect the speakers to your home network, you need to get the Edifier home app and follow the onscreen instructions to connect them up, which didn’t take long at all. This then means you can access the speakers direct from various apps, such as Spotify, which is generally my go-to streaming service. Within the app, you can play, pause, change tracks and volume, select inputs, view model specifics and connect to your amazon account to enable alexa. The app also provides firmware updates and you’ll be prompted when you load up the app if there is one available to download and install. There are no EQ options via the app, and no music or movie modes or presets, which would have been quite nice for those that want to plug into a TV. The only options you have for tweaking the sound are via the treble and bass knobs on the rear of the right speaker. 

Otherwise, you can connect to your smart device via Bluetooth, like just you would any other Bluetooth device, or connect a physical device to the speakers via the provided cables. Regarding set up and positioning of the speakers, you have to use the provided speaker cable, linking left to right but it is 6 meters long, so should be sufficient enough.

As for controls, limited via the speaker direct at the rear so the remote control is needed all the time. Nice remote, slim, and lightweight, and includes power on/off, mute, play/pause, track and volume control, plus source selection for hard-wired connections, and wifi/Bluetooth as well. The buttons work well, no complaints at all.  It looks like you need the remote to turn the speakers on, I wasn’t able to turn the speakers on with the volume/input select button. 

Moving onto audio performance and it’s great. At low volumes, fantastic for working and I really enjoyed listening to them. Well balanced sound profile, good clarity, and smooth bass, not over or underpowering. Mid-volume, the quality continues and now the bass is really kicking in but again, it’s mixed well, but at this point, I started to adjust the treble and bass at the rear. The kids wanted me to put some Bruno Mars on and while playing, I turned the bass up ever so slightly, the treble down a little bit so it wasn’t such a crisp sound. This is also when the feet on the speakers come into play and they do a great job of keeping the speakers secure from bass transfer. Turning the volume almost to maximum, it’s incredibly loud and even crisper than before. More bass, less treble for me and this was generally what I did when listening to pop, rock and country, sometimes when I put some RnB on, I turned the bass up even more and then it really popped. The quality remains at the higher volume which is great as alot of other speakers would lose its quality. It’s so loud, you cant hear anyone else in the house, which is great. In the living room, dining room, after a few drinks, have these on and that’s when the party starts. I also think over time, these speakers will mature, the sound will mature and it’s hard to get specific but even over the two weeks of me using these daily, I’m sure they sounded better at the end of week two. 

Now I wouldn’t necessarily use these for video content but thats just me, I like a soundbar but I did watch various trailers with these plugged into my TV. I used the optical option on my TV, as there is not HDMI option available and I was pleasantly surprised. The dialogue was clear and loud, bass from explosions rumbled on my TV cabinet and I did enjoy it. As far as I’m aware, there is no dolby or dts available and assume only AAC. 

Now, if you know of Edifier and know some of their previous products, you may have already seen these speakers before. There is an existing pair of speakers called the S1000MKll which look identical in appearance and it looks like components too, however, they’ve removed the MKll, swapped it with a W, and then you’ve got a wireless version of the speakers. There are also two big brothers you could say, the S2000MKll and the S3000 Pro which do have fundamental differences and I did review the S3000 three years ago and enjoyed them very much if my memory serves me well.

So there we have it, they were the S1000W wireless bookshelf speakers from Edifier. Great performance, I think they look good, I like the classic look and input options galore, almost. No HDMI but I personally don’t think that’s a major issue and they are also rather large, so they didn’t quite fit on my desk with my monitor and PC but on a bookshelf, dedicated speaker stands, not a problem at all. Price-wise, they retail at £299 here in the UK and I think you get a lot of bang for your buck at that price. 

For more info, head over to the official Edifier website.

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